Worcester community to see plans for new St John’s House Surgery 24 October 2011

After outgrowing their current building, doctors at St John’s House Surgery hope they may have found a new home – at the University of Worcester’s University Park site at Grove Farm on Bromyard Road, Worcester.

With more space required for an ever expanding range of patient services, the GPs have been working with Worcester-based specialist healthcare developers Prime (UK) Developments and design company One Creative Environments Ltd to create a bespoke primary care centre.

Keen to engage community groups in the development process, staff, patients, residents, businesses, the NHS, local councillors and the University have already been involved in what the new landmark surgery will look like. Now the wider public is being invited to look at detailed plans, give their feedback and help shape the new medical facility before a planning application is made later in the year.

The drop-in consultation event is open to everyone and will be held between 3pm and 8pm on Thursday 10 November at the University of Worcester’s Riverside Building on Hylton Road.

The new two-storey health centre will be two-thirds larger than the existing building and features a large space that could potentially be used by community or voluntary groups in the area.

Dr Mark Young, GP leading the project said: “St John’s House Surgery is a busy general practice and we pride ourselves on our pro-active approach to medicine. We currently have more than 14,000 patients registered with us and are committed to teaching and training in the local area.

“Our current buildings are no longer suitable for our needs, with insufficient space, inadequate disabled access and no possibility for extra parking. So since NHS Worcester agreed to fund this project in 2010, we have been keen to get underway with the development, which offer us an opportunity to grow and expand our service offering for the Worcester community.”

Bob Smaylen of Prime (UK) Developments explained: “The practice, along with designers One Creative Environments Ltd, patients and other members of the community have been working hard for the past few months, to create a new surgery building that the whole community will be proud of.

“The new building is one of the first things that people will see when coming in and out of Worcester, so it’s important for us to get the design right. We’ve already been in close contact with many of the residents and staff that will be using the new centre and are now ready to share our designs and plans to the wider public and ask for their comments and feedback.

“The event will be attended by members of the development and design teams, as well as key staff from the surgery to answer any questions that people may have.”